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My cheeks burned thinking about that perfect ass and those macho grunts. My reaction only made them laugh harder.
* * *
“How are you feeling?” Zander asks as we sit on the couch after dinner.
A documentary about empty villages in Europe is running in the background.
I smile. “Better than yesterday.”
“I’m happy to hear it, couch girl.” He sighs deeply, relaxing back and taking me along with him.
Whatever happiness he says he feels doesn’t really reach his face.
“I love you, Rose. I want you to know that you can always talk to me about anything. For me, you and my brothers are the most important things in this world. Remember that.” He brings my hands to his mouth and presses a kiss on them.
“I know. It kills me to see you like this.” I know my truth has shaken him, but I hope we can return to some sort of normalcy soon.
He kisses me soft and slow, saying without words how much everything has rattled him. I kiss him back, telling him how much his concern means to me. His anxiety about something that happened to me in almost another life, when no one cared for me, fills my heart with so much warmth.
“Tell me something. Anything. Make me forget yesterday,” I plead with him, my face hidden in his chest.
I thought he might resist and would insist we talk more about the incident. But he surprises me when he starts telling me a different story.
“When my dad was still alive, we didn’t have a fireplace in the house. But I’d seen in movies that Santa comes through the chimney.”
I glance up at him so that he can see my smile. He knows I love hearing about the happy part of his childhood. I crave those stories.
Zander smiles back and continues. “Zach was only four then, and he wanted a parrot so he could teach the bird all those bad words we weren’t allowed to use.”
I can so see a naughty toddler Zach concocting his devious plan.
“Now, I was young myself, okay? So don’t judge me too much.” Zander bites back his smile.
I giggle, itching to know where his story is going.
“So, the chimney wasn’t possible. But a tunnel was.” Zander makes an imaginary pathway with his curled fingers. “I dug out a tunnel from the main gate to the porch. Next day, I got a parrot from a neighbor lady. I told her it was a Christmas gift for my brother, and she gave it to me for whatever pocket money I’d saved. So, I kept the bird on the far end of the tunnel and closed both the holes with stones so that it didn’t fly away.”
“Oh my God.” My hands clasp together, and I bring them closer to my chest.
Zander gives me a lopsided smile, the dimple on his left cheek on display as he blinks mischievously. “Now, come next morning, I took Zach to the porch and removed the stones I’d put on that side of the tunnel. I’d hoped to find the bird, but it wasn’t there. I ran back to the other side, and I still couldn’t find it.”
“Fish! You killed it?”
“Yeah,” he says, shrugging lightly.
I chuckle, watching him pull on the collar of his shirt in embarrassment.
“I told you I was a kid myself.” A flush creeps across his cheeks, and I nod, biting back my shocked laugh. “So, I dug out the whole thing. The poor bird was a few inches into the tunnel, lying flat. I had to bury it again, before my parents found out about it. But Zach was happy anyway. Whenever he wanted to say a swear word, he’d run to the burial place and blurt everything. If my parents asked what he was doing, he’d say he was teaching the words to the bird.”
I laugh out at the crazy story. “Zach was naughty all his childhood?”
“Till he couldn’t be.”
My smile drops at his words, my heart squeezing for Zach. I know Zander’s brothers have their own scars. I might not see them, but they’re there, a reminder of their mother’s negligence.
“Thank you for sharing that with me.” I kiss his cheek.
He rubs his nose on my naked shoulder, my loose T-shirt stooping low. “Do I just get a kiss in return?”
